Talks & Entertainment

The relationship between Jewish culture and Latin music dates back to Iberia prior to the Spanish Inquisition, and continued to pre-Castro Cuba – an era when Jewish families would visit the island and its nightclubs. In the decades to follow, resorts started to pop up in the Catskills, and the Jewish community flocked to the Borscht Belt to dance to bands led by Tito Puente, Joe Cuba, and Eddie Palmieri, among others. The burgeoning scene attracted musicians and fans alike and has been described as a “mecca for Latin music,” resulting in the mambo being called “the Jewish waltz.”

The GRAMMY Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) , led by pianist, composer, and director Arturo O’Farrill, brings together sizzling big band jazz, the convergence of traditional Jewish music and Latin Jazz, and the virtuosity of eighteen accomplished musicians, with special guests Steven Bernstein and Anat Cohen. The performance features works by Latin jazz legends such as Tito Puente, Machito, and Chico O’Farrill, as well as classic Jewish melodies.